Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Can We Just Keep "Sexy" Out of It?

I'm not sure what the point is of this piece, except to poke a little snide fun at Hillary Clinton.

Not that that's an unworthy goal -- I do it from time to time myself. But it's the way this piece does it that's unfortunate; it basically mocks the concept of Hillary's "sex appeal" with little asides like "Now try to imagine Hillary Clinton even putting on a bikini, more or less wearing it to any place where she might conceivably be photographed."

These sort of cheap chortles are unworthy of the conservative movement. There's plenty to say about Hillary Clinton's policy and character, but shouldn't her thighs be off limits? As the author himself concedes, she's done all she can over the years not to bring the issue of sexiness into play, and doing it anyway makes people on our side sound cruel, petty and, frankly, more than a little sexist. If people were making these sorts of comments about Margaret Thatcher I'd be appalled; why is it OK just because it's Hillary Clinton?

When Hillary starts wearing jogging shorts like her husband used to, then bring it on. Until then, is it really necessary to sort through all the "sex appeal" issues just because she's a woman?